Forum:What is Politics Part 1
by Slije __TOC__ Dear Reader: I believe there comes a time to stop what you are doing and ask yourself if it's working. If you're trying to walk across the room but keep banging into walls and falling down, do you keep beating yourself up, or do you stop to assess the situation calmly? Which is more likely to help you reach your goal? There is a time for thick-headed persistence. There is also a time for surrender to what is (truth). It is time for pithy observations. I think one of the reasons we are assembled here is that politics is not working. We are not heading where any of us (including all of humanity) wants to go. I believe it is time to step back and assess our situation, and examine some of the principles by which we are operating. A lot is being done and redone out of habit, and these habits are leading us again and again into the same results. With this in mind, I have attempted to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, microscopic and macroscopic. First, I sat down and defined some of my terms so I could get an idea of what the fundamental issues are. I am an engineer by education, and I view politics largely as an engineering challenge. I am sharing with you some of what I have found in these explorations, as clearly as I know how. I have attempted to be deeply honest. Try not to be too easily offended – I believe we all ultimately want the same basic things. We just have different ideas on how to get there. The system is not working, so some of these ideas are no doubt flawed. If so, are you willing to exchange them for something more functional? This is an important question, because for many humans, being right is far more important than anything else, including being happy, healthy, or even alive. It is time to put ourselves aside and have look at ourselves. Let's take a walk. =What Is “Politics”?= Part 1: Definition Humanity shares a global political system. There is only one system. It has many branches, but they are all connected by a common world and a common purpose. The (geo)political system is humanity's attempt at control. Politics is a control system. Control systems In engineering, a control system is a 'brain' which controls the other 'organs' of a body to produce specific results. The control system is the 'decider' – that which regulates, signals, and manipulates various aspects of the larger system. In its most basic form, a control system is not necessarily intelligent. It need not involve thinking or conscious intention. It can simply be basic forces of nature achieving a balance, and thereby regulating an outcome. For example, if a river has too much water, it overflows its banks, thus maintaining a sustainable level. The level of water in the river is regulated by this natural control system. A more complex control system, yet equally unconscious: pupil dilation. Depending on the amount of light coming into the eye, the pupil will dilate more or less, thus regulating (controlling) the amount of light coming into the eye. This is a control system which uses feedback. The eye senses light, the level of which is adjusted by the dilation, which is in turn sensed by the eye, leading to further adjustment. Feedback control systems can be highly effective at regulation. As we move into intelligent and even conscious control systems, the opportunity for an exquisite level of control arises. Computers are a good example of control systems with basic intelligence programmed in, and they accomplish significant feats in some areas – far beyond the abilities of their creators alone. Computers are powerful. Control as power Another way of looking at control is as power. The more one is able to control one's self and environment, the more powerful one is. That is why politicians are often thought of as powerful (as are flooding rivers). Control and power go hand in hand. There may be some baggage here around the word “control”. We've got control freaks, control issues, and governments seeking more and greater control of their citizens and other governments. There seems to be a competition for control, and there are many who say “I don't want to be controlled! I want to be free!” However, what we are suffering from is not control in general, but crude attempts at control - a dysfunctional control system. It is a question of what forms the control takes and how functional it is. Nothing happens without control. Get up and walk across the room. Are you aware of the phenomenal feedback control system that enabled you to do that? Your eyes and ears were telling the system where you were, your inner ear was providing balance information, and your sense of feeling was providing feedback on the movement of your limbs. If you made an error and ran into the wall, the pain was giving the system error feedback. As the control system was receiving this continuous feedback, it was sending complementary signals to your muscles, controlling the movement of your limbs, and adjusting that movement based on the feedback. Depending on the functionality of your control system, as well as other systems in your body, you may have arrived at your destination. Control is freedom Control is not the enemy of freedom. In fact, freedom is a product of control. When a child first masters the art of walking, it gains a new degree of freedom. The greater level of control enables it to move at will and get into all kinds of mischief (as parents quickly find out). Finer control produces greater power and freedom. You will note that some branches of the geopolitical (control) system, for example the United States' political system, place a high value on freedom, and this is no mere coincidence. The principle of liberty is viewed as power. Freedom is also seen as a necessary ingredient in the political process, yet this is in error. Greater freedom is not a prerequisite to greater control, it is a product of greater control. Just as the child with the effective control system was able to walk, an effective political system produces power and freedom. These then become ingredients in an even greater control system, yet it is an error to believe they are prerequisites. If freedom is a prerequisite to control, yet control produces freedom, how do you begin? You must begin where you are, with the freedom and power you have, and produce more through effective control. So control is no enemy, though crude, dysfunctional forms of control can certainly be experienced that way. Information gives control One reason computers are powerful tools, powerful control systems, is that they can take in a lot of information. They get a lot of input and can process it (control it) quickly. You might say they are “aware” of a lot of input. Awareness is part of a very capable control system, as the simple feedback loop of pupil dilation demonstrates. From here it is a quick jump to the human being, who is aware of a great deal compared to a computer or an iris. Humans are conscious information processors. So what is politics controlling? What are humans attempting to collectively control through their system of politics? This is a surprisingly deep question. Yet it is basic. How can you effectively and functionally control something if you don't know what you are attempting to control, or what result you're attempting to achieve? Functionality is important in the consideration of control systems. Does it work? And how do you define working? Where are you trying to go? What are you trying to accomplish? Then you can decide whether your control system is functional – whether it is working. The fundamental dilemma Politics addresses a fundamental dilemma of humanity: there are more than one of us. For practical purposes, at our current stage of development as a species, politics is a control system for the distribution of resources. There are more than one of us, and there are resources to be distributed. How do we control this? By resources, I do not simply mean goods. Resources include natural resources (land, air, water, raw materials) and products (which includes services). Anything which you want, which you consider valuable, in some tangible way involves a natural resource, a made product, or a service, and there are others who also want it. How is the distribution of these resources going to be controlled and regulated? Who is going to decide? Who gets what, where, when, and how? In case you aren't convinced that this definition covers the whole of the political system, let's consider a less tangible example that politics addresses. What are resources? Consider morality. Is this a resource? First, we need to consider that our current control system (political system) may be dysfunctional. As such, it may not make much sense. For example, some would say that morality should not be part of the political process. Yet it is, and there should be a way to see how morality connects to humanity's attempt to control the distribution of resources. Why are people introducing it into politics? Morality amounts to behavior – how people are expected to behave. Morality is intended to regulate or control behavior. Yet how does this involve distribution of a resource? Well, why do you want to regulate their behavior? Ultimately, because it affects you. Perhaps their behavior disturbs you or your family. It affects you. You want it stopped, controlled. Who ya gonna call? Maybe you'll dial your congressperson and make sure there is a law enacted to outlaw their behavior. The system of laws and law enforcement is a service provided to citizens. It is a resource. Or maybe you will attempt to change the form of education, such that it includes morality. The educational system is a service. Maybe you will call the newspaper so they will publish an exposé on this immoral behavior and thus affect it. The media is a service. Maybe you'll notify your pastor, and entreat him or her to visit these people and help them through their difficulties. Pastors provide a service. Maybe you'll sue them and take their property away so they are less able to promote immorality. Property is a resource. No matter what tangible way you try to affect the intangible, you are making use of resources. How those resources are distributed to you and others determines your control and influence of their behavior, including morality. Hence, it is political. I think if you examine other political issues, you will see that one way or another they all revolve around control of the distribution of resources. This is politics. The scope of politics Is this overly broad? It seems to include everything. Yet can you name one thing which one way or another does not get pulled into politics? The political system, like any good control system, takes lots of inputs. The more it is aware of, the more effectively it can control results. In theory. An unfair challenge for you: turn on your TV or go on the internet and find a political topic that does not involve the control of the distribution of resources. (What you will mostly find in political discussions is an attempt to control politics, which is itself a service, so it still fits our definition. And there is good reason for why the control system is vainly attempting to control the control system, which we will examine in more depth further on. In brief, the control system is out of control.) An effective political system, that is to say an effective control system for the distribution of resources, would produce power and freedom for all of humanity: utopia. Utopia is the goal of the control system, the goal of politics. Based on this, we can evaluate the functionality of our current political system. The obvious observation: it's not working well. In our walking analogy, we're leaning way off balance, banging into the wall again and again, and are about to tumble out the window. A correction to the system is required. We also see in this definition that politics goes far beyond just government. Government is a public service. It is a resource. It is a product of politics, a means of distribution. Yet government is not the only organ so created and controlled. The media, educational system, economy, businesses, police/security/military forces, entertainment industry, political parties (okay, same thing), families, neighborhoods, communities, states, nations... these organizations are all outgrowths of the political system – a means for control of resources in some form. To many, even those in “politics”, it may appear that the purpose of politics is to maintain these organizations... to run them and protect them. It is a battle for survival. This may be one of the causes of the dysfunctionality of the control system. People become obsessed with maintaining a particular organization, ensuring its survival and prosperity, because they believe this is the purpose of politics. Yet these organizations are not the purpose of politics, they are the means of politics – one of the means of control of the distribution of resources. There are more than one of us. Who gets what, where, when, and how? These organizations may or may not be functional means – they may have grown dysfunctional, in which case people trying to ensure their survival in their current form at all costs are also generating dysfunction. Nevertheless, their existence owes itself to an attempt to control distribution. Organization in politics As the final discussion in this part, I would like to examine the basis of organizations. At the outset I said that humanity shares a global political system, and that there is only one system. Believe it or not, this system is fully self-consistent (it cannot exist otherwise). Like a fractal, its signature can be found at every level of organization, from the sub-individual to the entire globe, including its functional as well as its dysfunctional properties. Since organizations are such a pivotal means of the control system in question, they deserve some examination. You're in a group of people and you've got to accomplish a task. What do you do? If you are to be an effective group, you will organize in some fashion. It may be a loose organization, a strict one, or even an unconcious one, but organization in some form will grow. Organization is found everywhere. Not all organization is intentional, even in the human variety. In fact, even inanimate objects - rocks, dirt, space dust – are organized. Even in chaotic systems, such as the weather, order is found (this is the basis of Chaos Theory). Everywhere we look: organization. What's that about? When it comes to intelligent and conscious beings, their attempts at organization becomes intelligent and conscious. Deliberate. Intentional. Humans respond to a natural, primal tendency to organize, but they do so with conscious intention and direction. Effort. They have a will and a purpose. In the political system, in humanity's attempt to control the distribution of resources, we see organization used at every level. These are the organs of distribution, and the organs are controlled by the control system, the brain (itself an organ). The human as an organization First, let's take the sub-individual. There's more than one of you. If you've ever tried to lose weight by following a rigid diet, you already know this. One part of you wants to eat. Another part wants to lose weight. They don't always agree. Who gets what, where, when, and how? By some means, you have to make decisions. Will you eat this or not eat this? Each individual human mind contains a collection of sub-personalities, thought streams, and they are often in conflict. Some of these thought streams develop into identities. Multiple Personality Disorder is a demonstration of this, yet it exists to some extent in everyone. We are complex beings. How is all of this regulated? Which voice wins? Which controls what you say? What you eat? What you do? You may not decide this consciously, but there is a control system in place which decides. It is your internal political system. These are often learned at a young age. Some people have rigid control systems, with one 'voice' having the final say. It is a dictatorship. Dissent is barely heard, and not tolerated. Like any rigid system, however, these same people are often prone to erratic behavior – outbursts, violence. The ignored voices build up and eventually explode. They are out of control. Other people have more flexible control systems. They entertain different points of view, take polls of the populace, and eventually arrive at a consensus. These people tend to be more mild, more agreeable. Then there are the people who waiver. First they look at it one way. Then another. They try to determine which is right. They may become paralyzed by indecision and fear. These people tend to be nervous and timid. In fact, there are countless varieties of control systems. Without getting deep into psychology, you can notice that the dilemma is fundamentally the same: there are more than one of us. How do we decide? Personal politics. Group organization Next up we have groups of individuals. The most basic group is the family. There are many types of families. Some are dictatorships. Father knows best, father decides. The mother and the children are expected to live by the decree of the head of the house. Then there are more flexible families, in countless varieties. All have different ways of deciding. What are they deciding? Who gets what, where, when, and how? Family politics. From there, it is easy to go on... Families organize into neighborhoods, then communities, towns, counties, states, nations. In parallel, people also organize into various social groups, religions, sports teams, political parties, etc. They are all addressing the fundamental dilemma: there are more than one of us. How do we negotiate this? How do we exist together? Practically, how do we distribute 'stuff'? Some groups are based on competition, some on blood lines, some on beliefs, etc. Yet through all human organizations, from the sub-individual to the global, one can discern the same system being employed. The system is multi-faceted. It has many branches, and it is continually evolving. Like a fractal, it grows at every level it is employed. This is the political control system. For example: the monarchy. There was a time when many people lived under the rule of a king, who lorded over the land. His say was final. He was the decider. It was a facet of the political control system. At the same time, on the family level of organization, most families were headed by the man of the house. The father was the decider. He had a wife/queen with some power, though not as much as the king, and the children were mere subjects – expected to obey without question or recourse. Likewise, in religion of the time, the priest was the authority. No discussion. Death to dissent. In the individual, people tended to be more rigid-minded. They controlled their behavior, like their children, strictly. The sub-individuals were not humored much. On the global level, the monarch controlled (ruled) other weaker nations. There were empires, with no denials or apologies. Democratic organization Oversimplifying, a bit down the road the idea of democracy was born. People had a say in their laws and behavior. Far from perfect, it was different than the monarch model. Likewise, at home, the stern head of household gave way to a less rigid organization, and members of the family and children became more than mere indentured servants. Women still could not vote in the democracy, and in the household they were still subservient to men. In some cultures, women then got the vote. On an individual level, women began to take themselves more seriously. During the same period, and related, women asserted themselves more in the home. Today, most American women consider themselves an equal in the decisions of the home, at least in theory. Often that is not the case in practice. Likewise, in American culture, there has never been a female president, but there have been representatives. Women in theory are equal, but not fully in practice. Likewise, in religious organizations, women are becoming leaders, but are still not as well represented as men. On the global level, there is variation, but the general trend is the same. If you observe carefully, you will see parallels at every level of organization, and as the political system at one level evolves, it evolves at all levels. That is not to say that every organization is the same – there is variety. But every trend at one level is represented in some form in trends at all levels, from the sub-individual to the global. This could be examined in far greater detail, but suffice it to say that the political (control) system goes all the way through humanity, and across all cultures and times. As it evolves, it evolves everywhere. The forms and expressions differ, yet they are all connected by a common world and a common purpose. Summary This is politics, and it is far larger than we have imagined. It is not just on the TV, it is in your mind, in your home, in your church and grocery store. It is humanity's control system for the distribution of resources. Like all control systems, it employs systems of organization, and these systems change and evolve in form. Different organizations have different operating principles, agendas, and beliefs, yet they share a common purpose. Take a look at the organizations around you, both ones you are a member of and ones you are not. Notice how they distribute resources. One such organization is the internet itself. It is all about distribution, and it is increasingly surfacing in and affecting politics. In fact, it was created by the political system as an organ. Al Gore was right afterall – he did indeed create the internet. :Read Part 2